Charles Darwin University Kakadu Plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana) as a Sustainable Indigenous Agribusiness Gorman, Julian T.; Wurm, Penelope A.S.; Vemuri, Sivaram; Brady, Chris; Sultanbawa, Yasmina Published in: Economic Botany DOI: 10.1007/s12231-019-09479-8 Published: 01/03/2020 Document Version Peer reviewed version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Gorman, J. T., Wurm, P. A. S., Vemuri, S., Brady, C., & Sultanbawa, Y. (2020). Kakadu Plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana) as a Sustainable Indigenous Agribusiness. Economic Botany, 74, 74-91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-019-09479-8 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 26. Sep. 2021 This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Economic Botany. The final authenticated version is available online at: http:// dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12231-019-09479-8 . 1 1 Short title: Gorman et al.: Kakadu Plum as an Indigenous Agribusiness 2 Word count: 11,540 3 4 Terminalia ferdinandiana (Kakadu Plum) as a Sustainable Indigenous Agribusiness 5 *1Julian T Gorman; 1Penelope A.S. Wurm; 1Sivaram Vemuri; 2Chris Brady; 3Yasmina 6 Sultanbawa 7 8 1Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, NT, Australia, 9 0909. 10 E-mail: [email protected]; ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2013-3770 11 12 2Northern Land Council, Darwin, NT, Australia, 0801 13 14 3Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, QLD, 15 Australia, 4108 16 17 *Corresponding author 18 <H1>Abstract 19 In northern Australia, commercial use of plant products can provide Aboriginal people with 20 important livelihood opportunities. Terminalia ferdinandiana Exell. is a species endemic to 21 northern Australia with exceptional phytochemical properties and industry applications. 22 Aboriginal people have a long history of customary use of many parts of this plant and as 23 scientific research provides evidence for commercial applications, it is under increasing demand. 24 It has the highest level of ascorbic acid of any fruit in the world and commercially important 25 antioxidants. This paper reviews the unique characteristics of T. ferdinandiana fruit as a 26 commercial plant product, the people and landscapes in which it grows, and the current state of 27 knowledge for building a successful agribusiness based on these factors. It demonstrates the 28 great potential T. ferdinandiana has as a sustainable Indigenous business and identifies the 2 29 important research and development gaps that need to be addressed. These include improved 30 understanding of taxonomy, floral biology and drivers of variability in the properties in 31 T. ferdinandiana leaves and fruit; better understanding of aspirations of Aboriginal suppliers for 32 participation in the agribusiness supply chain, and; specific supply chain models that suit 33 Aboriginal suppliers of T. ferdinandiana to service a range of potential national and international 34 markets. 35 36 <H2> Keywords: Aboriginal; enterprise; antioxidant; Indigenous Ecological Knowledge; 37 38 <H1>Introduction 39 The aim of this paper is to bring a multidisciplinary approach to assessing Terminalia 40 ferdinandiana Exell. for Indigenous agribusiness development. T. ferdinandiana is an endemic 41 Australian native plant, with exceptional nutritional and health properties and potential 42 commercial applications. It is an abundant and widespread savanna tree, occurring across 43 northern Australia on lands owned and managed by Indigenous people. There is widespread 44 interest within the Australian Indigenous community in the potential to benefit livelihoods via 45 enterprise business income based on T. ferdinandiana. It is hoped that the framework developed 46 in this study will shed light on issues of concern for the growing interest in this agribusiness and 47 how best to address them. It is hoped that identifying knowledge gaps will inform future policy 48 initiatives and the development of the research and development agendas of Australian 49 Governments at all levels, as well as industry and philanthropic groups engaged in directing 50 funds for capacity building for Indigenous enterprise development. 3 51 52 Globally, many Indigenous people still have a high dependence on plant products for their 53 health, nutritional, cultural and spiritual well-being (WWF 2018). Equally so, ‘western’ markets 54 are also very dependent on wild genetic stock with some 25% of prescription drugs currently in 55 use today having plant origins. Plant compounds contribute to approximately 75% of the new 56 anticancer drugs marketed between 1981 and 2006 (Newman and Cragg 2007; Walsh 2003). 57 There is also a growing demand for ‘functional foods’, which potentially have a positive effect 58 on health above their nutritional value, such as in the prevention and management of health 59 conditions (Tapsell et al. 2006). In 2015, the global functional foods market was valued at 60 US$129.39 billion and it is forecast to grow to US$225.10 billion by 2024 (Grand View 61 Research 2016). This rapid market growth is due to increasing consumer consciousness about 62 health, diet and the environment, and greater awareness of foods that are produced in safe and 63 sustainable production systems. 64 65 Australia is well positioned to take advantage of this growing demand for functional foods based 66 on its diversity of endemic flora and Indigenous customary use and knowledge of plant products. 67 Australia has a very diverse array of native flora comprising of over 19,324 vascular plants with 68 the clear majority (~95%) being endemic (Chapman 2009). Many of Australia’s endemic plants 69 have commercial applications in the pharmacy, medicine, food, beverage, cosmetic, perfumery 70 and aromatherapy (Bindon 1996; Clarke 2012; Graham and Hart 1997; Lands 1987; Sultanbawa 71 and Sultanbawa 2016), with increasing international and national demand. Australian agriculture 72 has an excellent international reputation for its environmental stewardship, the quality of 73 products and agricultural practice (Daly et al. 2015), which positions it well to grow its existing 4 74 supply chains and to service a larger section of the functional foods market. However, to develop 75 these chains and grow a share in the international market, while including the requirements of 76 Aboriginal suppliers, requires careful planning, research and development, including 77 interdisciplinary knowledge across several areas of consideration. 78 79 Australian Aboriginal people are the custodians of the oldest continuous culture on earth and 80 have an extensive ecological knowledge and deep, spiritual connection to their country. Their 81 customary use of natural resources over many thousands of years has resulted in an exceptional 82 knowledge of the value of use of plant products which has been transferred across generations 83 (Lindsay et al. 2001; Puruntatameri et al. 2001). Wild plants and animals continue to be 84 important in contemporary identity building of Aboriginal people and wild food networks will 85 undoubtedly offer opportunities to urban, peri-urban and rural Aboriginal people (Low Chow et 86 al. 2013). There is much that modern medicine and other sectors can gain from this knowledge 87 and, through equitable partnership agreements, the Australian agribusiness sector and Aboriginal 88 people can also benefit greatly (Janke 2018; Robinson 2010). 89 90 T. ferdinandiana, best known by the common name ‘Kakadu Plum’ is one of Australia’s native 91 species that has potential to grow into a significant agribusiness. This species has exceptional 92 phytochemical properties in the leaf and fruit which have commercial application and market 93 demand from several industry sectors. It has the highest levels of ascorbic acid of any fruit in the 94 world and high levels of commercially important antioxidants such as flavonoids, polyphenolics 95 (including gallic and ellagic acids) (Cunningham et al. 2009; Netzel et al. 2007; Williams et al. 96 2014). A significant amount of research and development has already been conducted towards 5 97 the commercialisation of this species but there are clearly knowledge gaps that need to be 98 identified and addressed in growing this from a small-medium scale enterprise to a large-scale 99 agribusiness. 100 Northern Australia is struggling with the incongruity of having unique and abundant cultural and 101 natural resources, but an Aboriginal population suffering from major socio-economic 102 disadvantage (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2015). Yet the customary knowledge 103 that Aboriginal people have around plant and animal resources (Jones and Clarke 2018) could be 104 the basis of an improvement of their socio-economic status through creating